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Women as Orthodox Religious Leaders?

Friday, February 26 2010

Recent news stories have focused on the controversies within the Orthodox Jewish community relating to women serving in roles of religious leadership. In due course, I may comment on the specific charges and counter-charges. But for now, I want to comment on a statement issued by the so-called "Council of Torah Sages" of the Agudath Israel.

The "Council of Torah Sages" (Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America) is a group of rabbis who claim to speak on behalf of Torah-true Orthodoxy. In a statement released February 25, 2010, they took umbrage with Rabbi Avi Weiss's decision to appoint a woman to a  role of religious leadership in his synagogue. They said that this represents "a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah [sic], and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox."

For whom was this statement intended? I assume that members of Agudath Israel generally oppose--and would never consider--women for positions of religious leadership. I also assume that non-Orthodox Jews care very little about what the "Council of Torah Sages" has to say about the role of women in Judaism. They already have made their decisions on this topic. So this statement of the rabbis of Agudath Israel seems to be aimed at the "modern Orthodox" community, those who may be wavering about what to do about women who are trained for and seek positions of religious leadership within the Orthodox community.

The modern Orthodox community might rightly reply: this is our decision to make, not yours. You do not have the right or authority to declare who is Orthodox and who "cannot be considered Orthodox."    The modern Orthodox community might also rightly reply: if you have a halakhic/hashkafic point of view, please express it fully and with proper citations to Torah, Talmud and sources in rabbinic literature. Don't make proclamations, but give us reasoned, well supported position papers. That way, we will be able to see if there is merit in your position. We will also be able to offer a reasoned and well-supported response, if we feel your judgment is not the only one possible within Orthodoxy.

There is certainly no unanimity of opinion within the modern Orthodox world about the role women should/could have within synagogue and communal religious leadership. Yet, the virtue of the modern Orthodox community is that we are thinking about this issue, and trying to deal with a radically different world than that which existed even 25 or 30 years ago, let alone centuries ago.

We have a growing cadre of Orthodox women who have studied Torah, Talmud, halakha etc. They have gone to Orthodox schools and studied with Orthodox rabbis.  An increasing number of Orthodox women have gained proficiency in Jewish law and lore, and have gained training and competence in communal leadership.  What are we to do with these women?  Shall we say that 50% of the Orthodox Jewish population should be automatically disqualified--because of gender--from positions of religious leadership, even if they have the knowledge, skills and competence to contribute much to our communities? Or should we be thinking of ways--fully within the boundaries of halakha--to draw on their talents, and strengthen our communities thereby?

The "Council of Torah Sages" has declared that "any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox."  Well, what exactly is included in "a rabbinical position of any sort"?  May a woman be a "pastor"--visiting the sick, counseling the distressed, comforting the mourner? This is surely an aspect of a rabbinical position--is this forbidden by the "Council of Torah Sages"?  May a woman be principal of a synagogue Hebrew school, or teach Torah to children? This is surely an aspect of a rabbinical position. May a woman be a synagogue program director, administrator, educator, lecturer, outreach worker?  All of these things are part of what can be considered a rabbinical position. Would these things be forbidden by the "Council of Torah Sages"?  If any of the above things is forbidden according to the "Council of Sages," they need to explain exactly what the prohibition is. Indeed, there are a great many synagogues and schools--quite Orthodox--that employ women in the above "rabbinical positions" and who would be surprised to learn that the "Council of Torah Sages" has deemed them non-Orthodox violators of "mesoras haTorah" [sic].

So here is the question: if a properly qualified woman can perform a great many responsibilities totally within the halakhic framework, shouldn't the Orthodox community be seeking ways to encourage this phenomenon?  Surely, we are not arguing for abrogating halakha or for women taking on responsibilities that are forbidden by halakha. But there are a great number of "rabbinic responsibilities" that a woman can do within the framework of halakha. Instead of issuing general prohibitions, it would be good if Torah scholars could devote their time and talent to coming up with some constructive suggestions.

Perhaps the "Council of Sages" is concerned that if women take on roles of visible, public religious leadership, this can begin the "slippery slope" toward non-Orthodox practices. If this is their fear, they should so state.  But one can also express concern in the other direction: if the Orthodox community cannot find meaningful ways to utilize the talents and energies of properly educated Orthodox women, will Orthodoxy lose a substantial source of strength, and ultimately lose a substantial number of people alienated by Orthodoxy's inability to cope with new realities?

I fully appreciate that this is a complicated issue, and that there are valid concerns on both sides of the question. Indeed, the issue is so serious that it must be confronted with all due thoughtfulness, and with the recognition that there will be various approaches and suggestions.  What we need is candid, well-reasoned discussion--not unilateral proclamations that essentially say: do as we tell you, or you're not Orthodox.

One of my concerns is: does the modern Orthodox community have the inner strength to deal with the issue of women's religious leadership, or will we simply cave in to the pressure "from the right"?  The "Council of Torah Sages"  believes it can prevail in defining Orthodoxy, and in casting out those who disagree with them.  Does the modern Orthodox community have the confidence and integrity to demur, and to insist on its own right to discuss and debate and make its own decisions?

pehrenkranz's picture
pehrenkranz, February 26, 2010 - 2:04pm
For starters, I am confused about why it is said that orthodox women may not be women leaders. What was Devorah? Miriam? Beruriah? Judith? Never mind the myriad names of women scholars and leaders from the 20th century on. Secondly, I wonder about why there would be so much energy spent on trying to deny someone something that Halacha PERMITS. In my mind, not only does it permit it, but it encourages it. I am optimistic about where this is going, especially since the women are motivated by their desire to serve and lead. They are women who work at getting the proper education. Like the daughters of Tzlaphchad, I think they will impact the way modern orthodoxy views its leadership roles in the very near future. Like the daughters of Tzlaphchad, I believe these women speak wisely and ask justly. This discussion--debate is worth having.
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hsjoseph's picture
hsjoseph, February 26, 2010 - 2:37pm
Strange that the great Sages pick the week of Megillat Esther to condemn women's leadership roles.
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dssayani's picture
dssayani, March 2, 2010 - 12:40am
I do not believe that this is about leadership. Our history speaks for itself- we have always had strong religious leaders and scholars who have been women. However, there is a difference, I believe, between celebrating the various roles women have played within Judaism throughout the ages and creating artificial titles so that the woman hakhama within the synagogue can have a nice title to parade around with. Halakha, like any other legal system, can be interpreted in a myriad number of ways. People can cite sources supporting one side of the debate or the other. The question is, however, which sources you choose to cite or view as authoritative, and how you choose to apply them. I believe that the concern the Moetzet has is that the sociological boundaries between Orthodoxy and the non-orthodox will be blurred. Another concern shared by many members of the Modern Orthodox community and others is one of motivation- is the Open Orthodox movement motivated by a love of the mesorah or by the desire to synthesize Judaism with feminist values? This is a sentiment expressed by Reb Moshe Feinstein in his teshuva on whether women can bentch on a lulav-motivation. I argue that the wave of feminist religious scholarship and activism to have occurred within the past 25-30 years or so is in fact motivated by a desire to remain true to the texts themselves, all while understanding them in their proper sociocultural and contextual framework. I have written papers on how this phenomenon is seen among both Orthodox Jewish feminists as well as Islamic scholars such as Rifat Hassan and Amina Wadud- what the right needs to know is that these developments are not derived from feminist theory, but from the texts and traditions themselves, albeit a broad and integrative view of the texts that transcends the limitations of yeshiva pedagogy, which is obviously not concerned with critical or academic approaches. I have written numerous teshuvot on why women can serve as shochtim (barring Rambam's views on serara), mashgichim, and in other capacities. Even within the Haredi world, there are many popular and accomplished female maggidei shiur. This boils down, in my opinion, to a fundamental conflict between fundamentalism and modernity, which incidentally, avoids the revisionism and selective exegesis seen within fundamentalist circles. If we are to look at the mesorah in its fullest sense and appreciate what the texts themselves truly say, one will come to very different conclusions than what is preached as normative and binding by our brethren on the right. This applies not only to the issue of women religious leadership, but also to issues such as evolution, interfaith dialogue, secular studies, and others. I have written at length in my book how the right subverts our tradition and its texts on these issues, and I believe that we should view this issue as exactly what it is- just another dividing point between the left wing of Modern Orthodoxy and the Haredi world.
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mike3050's picture
mike3050, April 17, 2010 - 5:35pm
A candidate to become a yo'etzet halakhah studies for two years at Nishmat and receives training from experts in psychology, women's health, and sexuality. Since the first graduating class in 2000, 61 women have been certified as yo'atzot halakhah. These women work in Jewish communities in Israel and in North America and answer questions via phone and Internet from women around the world on topics in women's health and halakhah, including issues of family purity, fertility problems, and sex education for teens. The creators and graduates of this program are careful to call themselves halakhic experts or advisors--not halakhic deciders--to pre-empt objections that it remains the exclusive role of rabbis to give halakhic rulings (p'sak). Indeed, yo'atzot often turn to rabbis to resolve complicated issues. Due to the way the role is defined, the position of a yo'etzet is accepted in many Orthodox circles, including some that are to the right of center.
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micheal's picture
micheal, June 3, 2010 - 9:32am
Controversies within the Orthodox Jewish community relating to women serving in roles of religious leadership. Thanks for sharing the information. 
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